Baby, it's Cold Outside
by Grace of Skye
Summary: Dave finds John and Jake on the streets after they run away from their abusive father. He and Dirk struggle to find out the painful secrets the two boys are keeping, and balance them with their own problems - including possible romantic feelings. Is it possible to fix the broken? TWs for mentions of abuse and suicidal thoughts. DirkJake and DaveJohn. Smut in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Well, I'm having an anxiety attack over my homework and it's ten an night and it's all due tomorrow so what better to do than to write.

Sorry, readers of A Beautiful Red but I've kinda lost my steam for that for the moment, so yay you get another DaveJohn. Wait, what's that? DirkJake as WELL?! You guys are in for a treat.

Of course it's all angsty, though – what else?

Anyway, enjoy, I guess.

==Be the coolkid.

It seemed like another boring, unproductive day when you set off on your usual nightly walk. Dirk was blasting his awful heave metal music, so you set off a little earlier than usual to get away from it. You don't really know why you go on nightly walks – seems a little bad shoujo anime, but you don't care. Your apartment gets pretty stuffy if you and Dirk stay in there together all the time so you try and get out of the house as much as possible. Dirk only leaves occasionally to hang out with Roxy and Jane and that weird Equius guy & his friends, but he stays at home and demands his friends come to him most of the time. You don't mind him hanging out with friends at home; you actually usually end up hanging with them. They're cool.

Your watch read 9:32, and you set off.

You took your usual pathway, down by the small shopping district just outside your town before the big streets and stores. It's a quiet walk, especially at this time – you only pass by a few people on their way out to the bars or home from work that didn't pay you any mind.

You were almost home when you saw something move in the alleyway a short way away from your apartment. And, being the curious little shit you are, you walked in there and saw something pretty odd. Which brings us up to real time.

There are two boys sat hidden behind the dumpster, fast asleep. They look pretty similar: dark hair, glasses - brothers maybe? The larger of the two is curled protectively around the smaller, as if attempting to hide him from view. Their ratty tee-shirts are dirty and torn and their joggers don't fit them properly at all. Holy shit, they don't even have shoes; their bare feet are scarred and bleeding.

Anyway, they look pretty cold and definitely unhealthy – they're thin as twigs and look like a pebble would break every bone in their body. Shit, you're gonna regret this – but they're gonna die out here if you don't. You stretch a hand out slowly, but your wrist is grabbed and a gun pressed to your temple before you can even touch either of them. It takes you a moment to come back to your senses – how can anyone move that fast without flash-stepping, which is a private Strider family secret? You look down, and sure enough the larger of the two boys is glaring up at you with bright green eyes, pushing the groggy other boy further behind him.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" he grits, voice laced with malice and a British accent. "You want to kill us? Did one of your little friends dare you? Well, I hope you get a few kicks out of this!"

The other boy is coming to his senses slowly, blue eyes gazing up at you with a strong light of utter terror.

"Jake, Jake, what's happening? Is he gonna hurt us?" blue-eyes is whispering desperately, trying to get a good look at you while also trying to hide. He looks ready to put up a fight, even though you'd bet your turntables you'd win in a matter of seconds with him in this state.

"Don't worry, John. If he even tries, I'll blow his brains out" it was an answer to John's question, but it was directed at you. You put the hand that isn't being gripped by Jake up in defence, shaking it desperately. Shit, shit, shit, this guy's gonna kill you…!

"Ch-chill, dude, I don't wanna hurt you!" you struggle to keep your voice steady under Jake's terrifying glare. "You're asleep in an alley looking close to death, I was worried!" Jake looks unimpressed, and you thank God for your shades so your terror isn't any more obvious than it already is. Okay, okay, calm down!

"Listen, if you want you can like stay at my apartment or something. You can eat and shower and sleep in an actual bed—"

"We don't need your help" Jake cuts you off, voice flat and dismissive, "now leave us alone."

John, who still looks like a rabbit in headlights, shuffles closer to him, struggling to tear his wary gaze off you.

"Wait, Jake" he whispers, "maybe we should go with him."

Jake turns to him and leans in closer. They start whispering to each other, but you catch little bits of their conversation.

'What if he's just like the others?'

'But what if he's not?'

'John, you're too trusting.'

'No, you're just too wary of everyone!'

'I just don't want to go back to that place. I promised to protect you, and I don't plan on breaking that promise!'

John glares at him. And they hush up again, leaving you only with the tiny movements of their lips. Damn, you really should've watched that lip-reading tutorial on YouTube last night! It certainly would be of more use than Llamas with Hats.

Wait, you take that back. Llamas with Hats is the shit.

Oh, wait. They've stopped talking.

Jake sighs in what seems to be defeat and John giggles at him.

"Fine" Jake sighs melodramatically, "we'll go with you."

You suppress a victorious laugh as you gesture for them to get up.

They struggle to their feet, and you move to help John when he almost falls. Jake slaps you away and John looks embarrassed. You don't offer your help again after that.

The walk home is slow, but you don't mind. Jake demanded you walk in front, at least three feet away, so you don't try anything. Not wanting them to run off again and die in that alleyway, you agreed and resorted to glancing over your shoulder at them every 0.2 seconds. John is holding onto Jake's arm like a child would, enjoying what's most likely the first walk in a long time when they didn't have to worry…much. Soon enough, you reach the apartment after climbing a couple hundred flights of stairs. They're both noticeably far more out-of-breath than they should be.

You lead them into the lounge and command them to stay there while Dirk skins you alive and bites your head off.

==Dave: Be the British guy

You are now the British guy, and you are currently stood awkwardly in a stranger's apartment while he gets yelled at by some other guy in another room. Bloody hell, you thought one Texan bastard was bad enough. Is everyone here this loud?

John is still clutching your arm, and you notice he's shaking and breathing heavily. Dammit, you knew he'd have a panic attack! You stay silent, afraid to speak, and simply hold his hand comfortingly. You held hands a lot. Not romantically, just platonically, really – you always have. Since you first met him, you both found comfort in holding hands. It had started mostly when you were both very young, but it stuck as a habit.

Anyway, it seems that young what's-his-face is done arguing with his roommate and they are now returning. To your mild surprise, a tall fellow with blonde hair and odd shades steps through the door first, looking royally pissed. His face softens ever so slightly, however, when he catches sight of how pitiful you and John look in your dirty old clothes that would be too small if you weren't half-starved. He stops a little way away, but you're still intimidated by him. He's quite a bit taller than you, and looks a lot stronger.

"So, these are the guys you picked up off the street like a completely fucking moron?" weird-shades asks, although the answer is rather obvious. Aviators nods.

"Well, I guess introductions are in order" he says calmly, as if this is completely normal. Hell, maybe it is for him?

"My name's Dirk Strider, 17, and your little guardian angel here is Dave, 16 – my brother."

You glance at John, and he's still stood silently examining the floor, so you take it upon yourself to introduce the two of you.

"My name is Jake English, 17. This is John Egbert, 16."

Dirk nods slowly and sits down on the futon, motioning for you and John to join him. Dave stays standing instead of trying to squeeze on as well. The softness is unfamiliar but definitely not unwelcome, but you can't get comfortable. You're tense and nervous and worried.

You know what's coming: the questions. So you simply sit quietly and hold John's hand.

==Jake: Be the guy wearing dumb anime shades

Oi, they're not dumb!

Anyway, you are now the guy wearing – NOT – dumb anime shades with two random street kids sat on your futon. Dave picked them up after finding them in an alleyway, and needless to say you're a little pissed.

Your first thought was, of course, serial killers, but that thought had left you when you actually saw them. They were both small, unhealthily skinny little things with dark hair and close-to-breaking glasses. They both look fully prepared to keel over. You wonder how long they'd been on the streets.

Jake is glaring up at you despite his general kind aura, and John is staring at his knees looking terrified. It's gonna take a while to calm that kid down.

"So," you begin, and Jake exhales like he knows what you're going to say, "why were you on the streets?"

Jake gives a pointed look to no one in particular, and sighs. "I don't really want to talk about it."

"Well, I'm sorry, dude, but you're gonna have to. Otherwise I'm just gonna have to report you to the police" it's a total lie – you'd never be so cruel as to do that, but Jake's eyes widen and he screams 'no!' so loud you're surprised no one's called the cops anyway. John looks up, horrified, and bursts into tears.

Okay, now you feel bad. You gesture awkwardly for Dave to take John to his room or something, and he quickly complies. He drags John away quietly and runs off to his room, leaving you and Jake alone.

"Well done, asshole" Jake mutters, glaring harshly at you. Yeah, you deserved that.

"Fancy telling me now?" you try and soften your voice a little as you gesture to the lack of kiddie-winks. He sighs deeply and gives you a look.

"Okay, let's just say that our family wasn't exactly very nice. We met when John was adopted by my father and soon became close friends. I guess we're technically brothers."

You nod to show your understanding after he pauses briefly, and he continues.

"Anyway, my father isn't a nice man, so we ran away. That was…god, three? Four years ago? We've been living on the streets ever since, moving from city to city."

You nod again as he finishes his story and glance at the digital clock on an end table. 11:03.

"Guessing you're tired?" you ask, and he nods. "C'mon. You don't wanna sleep in here, trust me."

He follows you to your room and catches the old clothes you throw at him.

"Go shower or get changed or whatever you want" you say, pointing out the bathroom and he rushes off. You hear the shower running a few minutes later.

God, you must be crazy.

A/N: I got really lazy towards the end I am sorry. Anyway, what do you cuties think? Cliché enough for you?

I couldn't pick a pairing so y'all get both of 'em. And I'm sorry if this seems OOC I will fix that as soon as I reach 'Smooth Writing Time'.

Please review, I guess!


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Oh lord thank you so much for all the favourites and follows and reviews! I can't even tell you how much I appreciate them!**_

_**Laughs I should be doing so much homework right now but the fictional gay boys beckoned. I make good choices and I'll probably be in detention while you're reading this. Pledge allegiance.**_

_**(Sorry for all the stupid mistakes, I'm sleep-deprived and living off Cup-a-Soup, caramel ice frappes and instant noodles.)**_

_**(Okay, I know I said they lived in an apartment last chapter, but I randomly decided that NO! THEY SHALL LIVE IN A HOUSE FOR NO APPARENT REASON OTHER THAN MY WRITING PLEASURE! So yeah they live in a house now. Quite a big one, might I add.)**_

_**Enjoy, cutie patoots!**_

==Be the younger Strider

You are now the younger Strider and you are currently trying to figure out a way to make John stop crying. You've never seen someone look so terrified. The second you brought him into your room he decided to curl into a ball in the corner and sob, much to your dismay. You have no idea how to deal with situations like this – you've only known him for, like, an hour! You've always been awful with emotions and shit, especially when they're not yours! What are you supposed to do? Tell him to man up? No, that's just mean…Hug him? Huh, it always worked with Dirk when you were kids, so you guess it's worth a shot.

Getting up from you position on your bed, you make your way slowly across the room. You've lived here long enough to not have to think much to dodge around the wires and random crap everywhere, which allows you to focus on his reactions. Despite your speed (or lack of it, rather) he still shrinks back against the wall and tightens his grip on his knees, not daring to look you in the face.

As slowly as physically possible without stopping completely, you slide down the wall next to him and try and find a mildly comfortable position. Once you're satisfied, you sit there for a while to kind of get him used to the idea of closeness. You guess he hasn't been near anyone except Jake for years. He doesn't seem to be completely opposed to you being there, so you take that as an okay. Slightly nervously, you shuffle closer to him and gently wrap your arms around him. You hear his sharp intake of breath at the unfamiliar contact, and he tenses as if expecting you to suddenly lash out. You shush him quietly, hoping your nervousness and general awkwardness isn't coming through in your voice. After what seems like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, he slowly relaxes and wraps his own arms around you – to your surprise. His skinny frame is still shaking with sobs as you do your best to calm him down and remind him to breathe. Ever so slowly, you can tell you're getting somewhere.

You sit like that for a long time, 'til gone midnight, and you only get up when you hear his remaining sobs dissolve and his breathing slow as he falls limp against you. Dang, you were kind of enjoying that. It's been a while since you've just hugged someone…that wasn't your drunken stepsister. (Not that you mind her, she's a sweetheart.) Your family isn't much for hugging, and hugging your friends isn't quite the same.

You pick John up with ease and throw him over your shoulder gently, walking back over to your bed and putting him down. You make a brief mental note to deal with cleaning him up and giving him new clothes tomorrow as you lie down next to him and quickly fall asleep.

==Be the older Strider

You are now the older Strider again and you are currently trying to remember what the hell happened last night. After waking up next to some random guy, you're pretty convinced you got drunk and fucked him or something, but after having a minor heart attack you remember Dave finding those two guys on the street and you fall back into the pillows in relief.

Apparently you made quite a racket in your near-death experience, because Jake opens his eyes and sits up groggily. The old tee-shirt you leant him is hanging loosely off his shoulders and you struggle not to stare.

Let's use breakfast as an excuse to leave.

Voicing your excuse quickly, you rush out of your bedroom and downstairs, into the kitchen. You don't usually cook breakfast (or make it at all) except on special occasions, but you consider two starving street kids with you a special occasion. You wonder absently what they've been eating all this time as you pour Morrison's Own brand ready-made pancake mix into a pan and start frying some eggs. ((A/N: just so no one gets confused, Morrison's is a British supermarket. "Morrison's Own brand" stuff is extremely cheap, knock-off, usually bad-tasting/tasteless foodstuffs like crisps and tin spaghetti.))

Jake comes trailing out after you about five or ten minutes later in the faded orange tee-shirt and boxer shorts you presented him with last night. You didn't even bother trying to find a pair of trousers for him – nothing you have would even come close to fitting him.

It should be illegal to be naturally that attractive.

You instruct him to go and make himself comfortable in the lounge as you continue cooking, turning back and yelling for Dave to get his ass out of bed.

==Be the rudely awoken sixteen-year-old…the blond one, I mean

Oh, okay. You are now Dave Strider, and you really hate waking up this close to dawn.

Some may argue that it's nearly eleven o' clock, but that is as close to dawn as you ever wanna get.

You sit up groggily and take about three minutes to remember your name. God, you hate mornings. John is already wide awake next to you, staring absently at the posters (even though most of them are images from Google that you printed out yourself) covering the wall across from him. Putting your shades on quickly and nudging him to get his attention, you practically fall out of bed and crawl over to your wardrobe. It's more of a black void of no return now, though; you really need to clean up. You dig through it for a little while before finding an old hoodie and boxers that'll probably just about fit him.

"You can go shower and change, if you want." He seems vaguely surprised you addressed him at first, but soon catches himself and scrambles across the room to take the clothes from you. You gesture vaguely over your shoulder to the bathroom across the landing as you dive into the wardrobe to find some clothes for yourself.

==I'm bored now. Let's go be Jake!

You are now Jake, and you hadn't realized quite how hungry you are. You'd managed to nick a few stale and/or burnt bread loafs from the bakery for you and John the day before Dave found you, but they didn't do much to fill your stomachs. It's not like you were in any position to be picky, though.

Dirk is cooking quickly, already laying dishes of food on the table judging by the clattering. You didn't bother trying to talk to him – Dad didn't like you talking while he was doing things. Dad didn't like you talking at all.

Well, you don't blame him really – you are annoying. You don't blame him for yelling at you. You don't blame him for hitting you. You do, however, blame him for hitting John. Well, you blame yourself mostly. John was only ever loud and rude when you got into trouble, which was often. He'd try and defend you, yelling and screaming because Dad would never listen, until he got hit too. You remember hiding with John under your bed until Dad went out to get drunk and you could try and deal with your injuries. And then hiding again when he came back, out of his head and angry. If he found you while drunk, he'd hit you whether you were being annoying or not.

You're so deep in your memories, you don't notice when Dirk stops clattering around the kitchen to stare at you, looking concerned. You're only dragged back to reality when he shakes your shoulders and calls out your name. You stare at him, confused, for a second; it had seemed like you were actually back in that house with Dad and you can't help the shaky sigh of relief you let out.

"Y'alright, bro?" Dirk asks, turning back to the stove but leaving the door open and still looking at you with that awful look of concern and pity you get all too often from passersby. You answer with a perhaps unnecessarily bitter 'yes' and he slowly turns back to his cooking. John and Dave come downstairs a few minutes later, Dave instantly going into the kitchen and John sitting down next to you looking small and pale and nervous. You probably don't look much different. You grab his hand and start muttering random things to him like you used to when you hid from Dad, or when you couldn't fall asleep on the streets. You ended up muttering to him like this a lot.

You fall silent, however, the second the door opens again and Dirk and Dave return with plates of pancakes, sausages, eggs and other breakfast-y food. You feel a bit sick now, but you're not going to refuse it. You haven't eaten a proper meal in over three years, and even before that Dad scarcely cooked for you – you're gonna eat this even if you throw up. Dirk hands a plate to you and sits down next to you, but you notice he's put a fair amount of space between the two of you. Perhaps he's a tad more considerate than you thought. Dave chooses to sit on the floor next to John, and you don't pay him much mind. You'd almost forgotten how incredible freshly-cooked food tastes.

==Dirk, you're up!

You're now Dirk again, and you were about to dig into this (mostly ready-made) meal you'd slaved over for, like, twenty whole minutes, until the front door swung open violently and several sets of footsteps enter the house.

"Di-rky!"

Roxy.

"Are you two still asleep?"

Rose.

"You better not be!"

Jane.

"I'll come up there and wake you up myself if you are!"

Jade.

"Sorry for intruding so noisily."

Kanaya.

With a sigh, you put your fork down. "We're in here!"

"Oh, you're awake!" Rose exclaims, sounding pleasantly surprised. She's the first to open the door leading into the hallway and make her way inside, Roxy hanging off her arm and Kanaya close behind her. Jane and Jade follow soon after.

"Ooh! I didn't know you had company, sorry for making such a racket!" Jane apologizes suddenly upon seeing Jake and John, who are currently shuffled up as far away from the girls as possible, looking mildly terrified.

"Uh, yeah" you struggle to get a word in edgeways over the girls' chattering, "these two'll be living with us from now on. John and Jake."

The two look up at you, surprised for a second, before returning their gaze to the girls and smiling awkwardly.

"Hi! I'm Jade!" Jade grins and then begins to point at each of them in turn, "and this is Rose, Roxy, – those two are Dirk and Dave's stepsisters – Kanaya, - Rose's girlfriend – and Jane!"

"Oh-em-gee, you two are, like, _totes _cute! Puh-lease tell me at least one of 'em is single!" Roxy cries, throwing herself down between John and Jake. Damn, it must be a little overwhelming to associate with Roxy after over three years of barely talking to anyone, but if anything they look a little more relaxed.

Huh. You really don't give Roxy enough credit for being who she is. The others make themselves comfortable, stealing bits off plates, and you have breakfast in a much happier atmosphere than when you started.

_**A/N: Aaaaaaand done! Finally! Bit messy, but you'll take what you can get!**_

_**Please review! uwu**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: I've been listening to a lot of Nino Ferrer lately. Have you ever heard of him? I listened to him with my grandmother when I was very young, and I recently fell in love with him all over again; I just had to somehow incorporate his music into this, so I apologize in advance for that since he has absolutely nothing to do with anything.**_

_**Anywho, this fanfic is far more popular than I thought it would be! Thank you to everyone who follows and favourites, especially those who review! **_

_**I'm working on making the chapters longer. I've noticed my chapters tend to be very short and dull.**_

==Be one of the newly-introduced broads

You are now one of the newly-introduced…broads. Rose Lalonde, to be precise, and you are very confused by your brothers' new lodgers. Neither of them ever mentioned anything about anyone moving in, and if anything you'd say that they wouldn't invite anyone to live with them in a million years - they can barely handle living with one other person, let alone three. However, they seem rather happy and comfortable with these two boys you've been informed are John and Jake.

You don't mean to keep staring at them so judgingly, but it's a habit. Luckily they don't seem to notice; otherwise you'd make a rather shabby first impression.

Both Jake and John, you notice, are very small and skinny. Unhealthily so. Their postures are tense and hunched over; as if subconsciously protecting themselves from something and you quickly notice that they are wearing your brothers' clothes. They flinch ever so slightly at every sudden movement and noise, and they move their heads quickly and jerkily. The clothes thing can be taken two ways, but the others certainly can't.

Your guess is that these two boys were abused something awful wherever they were before Dave and Dirk let them move in, and they certainly haven't got over it yet. Do your brothers know? If not, you'll have to warn them. One tiny thing could trigger them and result in something drastic.

When you finally look away from Jake and John, you come face-to-face with Dave, who is half-glaring at you in an exasperated way. He stands up quite suddenly and hands his half-finished plate to a hungry-looking Jade, who starts eating immediately. He jerks a finger at the door to the kitchen and leaves the room. You follow him a moment later, fully prepared for casual, laid-back sibling banter.

Not.

==Be Dave

You are now Dave, and you are currently leaning against the kitchen island facing your stepsister, who is perched elegantly on the countertop opposite you. Her lips, stained a very dark purple ("The colour is called 'Scorched'" she had yelled when you'd made a comment about it), are pressed in a thin line and her violet eyes, fringed with long false eyelashes and thick-winged eyeliner, are narrowed curiously.

"You didn't tell me about anyone moving in" she says calmly, her voice even and firm. It's a challenge, to defeat her. Your conversations tend to take this turn into an extremely passive aggressive, would-be argument and you consider it quite normal, if pretty annoying. Her arms are supporting her on the countertop, a long, neatly-painted, black nail that's probably a falsie is tapping on the hard surface and her back is dead straight. Intimidation; a technique she's mastered over everyone but you.

You cross your arms over your chest calmly over your chest, squaring up to her. You're pretty tall and intimidating at 6'1'', but she's not far behind you at 5'11''. "It was pretty sudden. Besides, I don't have to tell you every little thing that goes on in my life."

Rose quirks a perfectly-shaped eyebrow and it disappears under her platinum blonde fringe that could do with a cut. "I wouldn't say two boys moving in with you was 'little'."

You shrug your shoulders. "My first point still stands."

"Indeed it does. Which brings the questions 'how did you meet them?' and 'why did you let them move in with you?' forwards. Anyone you'd be close enough with to let them move in with you, I'd know too. Who are Jake and John? When did you meet them? How?"

You're undeterred by the string of questions she throws at you. "I don't have to answer your questions."

Her lips curl downwards. "You found them on the streets, didn't you?"

You should've known Rose would see right through you. A brief sigh of defeat is all you reward her with, but that's enough for her. A smirk graces her lips, and she doesn't seem to be surprised by the fact that you picked two boys off the streets in the dead of night.

"I won't bother to tell you how utterly moronic you are – I think you already know – but I will say that I'll be more than happy to help you look after Jake and John in their current condition."

It's your turn to raise an eyebrow, and you shake your head in confusion.

"Hm. I figured you wouldn't know. Jake and John were abused quite terribly wherever they were before the streets and you…at least, according to what I've seen. Do look after them, won't you? Text or call me whenever you need me. I can either come over or just give you instructions and advice, I don't mind." Rose's smile is sweet and you can't help giving her a smirk. She hugs you quickly and waves briefly at you, "I better get going. Call me whenever you need me, okay?"

"Sure thing, sis."

You walk into the lounge just in time to see Jade's dark brown hair disappear through the doorway just before the door swings shut. The apartment is plunged into silence.

Dirk is sat on the very edge of the futon watching the telly, and Jake and John have shuffled back closer to each other. You click your fingers and manage to capture Dirk's attention long enough to tell him to get in the kitchen, and he does so while you go back to the position you assumed when you were talking to Rose. Dirk strolls in casually and starts making himself a cuppa, sparing you a glance to show he's listening.

"Jake and John were abused."

He hums. "I know, Jake told me. Rose tell you anything else?"

You're mildly surprised by how casual he is, but consider the fact that he's most likely only keeping up a careless façade and is, in fact, freaking the fuck out. He's still facing away from you, so you have no hope of reading his emotions. You give him a melodramatic exasperated sigh, and he chuckles and barks a meaningless insult. Turning so your arms are folded on the countertop in front of you, you rest your head on them and recite an abridged version of you and Rose's conversation. By the end, he's halfway through his tea.

"Okay, we know a lot more now, but we still don't know much. If they ran away and hid on the streets for three years, then their father would never be charged for what he did. You think he's still chasin' after 'em?" Dirk mutters, hushing his voice as much as possible to hide your conversation from the boys in the other room.

"Probably;" you reply, "that would explain why they were so reluctant to come with me."

You both fall silent for a while, until Dirk shrugs and puts his empty mug in the sink. "Ugh, my head hurts. I'mma go take a shower and think about stuff."

And with that, he leaves. You consider doing the washing up (the pile of dirty silverware and china is growing rapidly) but quickly decide against it; Dirk'll do it if it gets too much, he's such a clean freak, so you won't waste your energy doing stuff you don't have to do. You decide to exit through the hallway instead of the lounge, as you feel Jake and John could do with a little time to relax a bit and you make your way through the hall and around to get to the games room. However, when you pass the lounge on your way, you freeze.

Is that…singing?

You shuffle backwards and lean in closer to the door, and, sure enough, you hear what sounds like Jake singing. You quickly establish that the song isn't English – it's…French, you think? Anyway, he's a surprisingly good singer, despite the fact you haven't got a fucking clue what the words mean. The song is so fast you doubt you could make it out if it were English. You can hear John giggling softly, and, eventually, joining in. His voice is unconfident and wavering, but you have to admit that you love it anyway. You're quite surprised that they both seem to know the words but heart, considering they're in a completely different language. In the entire song, the only words you manage to decipher are "et la radio". You never payed much attention in French class, but you payed enough attention to know that that means "and a radio". You haven't got a clue why they're singing about radios, but you're not gonna question them. The song's actually pretty catchy; you'll look up the original later.

((A/N: The song they're singing is Les Cornichons by Nino Ferrer. I really recommend listening to it, he's a really great singer and the song is awesome – it's all about food! It is French, though, so I guess if you don't know French it's not great…although the tune is still cool and you could probably find one with English translations if you look!))

They don't really stop at the end of the song, they seem to just kind of transition into a different song and carry on singing in that hushed, joking way. You take a wild guess and say that singing like this is a way of comforting themselves and each other.

That's…actually really sweet.

((Did someone say timeskip? No? Okay. TIIIIIIIIIMESKIIIIIIIIIIIP. Whoops, someone said it. Okay. Yay. Let's go.))

Continue to be Dave Strider

You continue to be Dave Strider, and you therefore continue to be sat at your desk in your bedroom, listening to that song that Jake and John were singing a couple hours ago. You found out that the singer is a guy named Nino Ferrer, who is an Italian-French singer, actor and jazz musician. His style is pretty different than what you usually listen to, but you're quite like him. Maybe even enough to download his music legally.

You've been sat up in your room for a few hours without disturbance from anyone, and you're kind of surprised when there's a timid knock at the door. Well, it's not Dirk – he'd just burst in. That has resulted in many awkward situations but that's not what we're talking about. Wait, what are we talking about?

Oh, right, door.

"Wha-t?"

The door opens slowly and John is stood there looking like a rabbit caught in headlights. You spin your desk chair round and yank your headphones down around your neck, looking surprised but quickly catching yourself. "Oh, hey, man. Sup?"

Again, he seems surprised at being addressed fondly, but he offers a nervous smile. "Um, can..can I…hang out up here? W-with you?"

The way he's talking makes it seem like he's asking for the world and sixteen diamante ponies or some shit, and you guess that for him, he is. You give him the tiniest of smiles, and gesture to your games consoles, comic books and other crap strewn around the room, "sure! Make yourself at home, and help yourself to whatever you want."

You turn back to your computer, but keep an eye on him (god bless your shades) as he slowly crosses the room and perches nervously on the very edge of your bed, seemingly making himself as small as possible. He doesn't touch anything or talk – he barely dares to breathe – but he seems almost…happy? Like he's content with this silence, this nothingness, as long as he has a positive presence.

You turn your computer off.

He looks at you in surprise when you stand up, as if he had suddenly been snapped out of a daydream. You make your way across the room and sit down next to him, but the silence remains.

"What's your favourite colour?"

He turns to you, looking surprised and mildly confused, but answers you anyway.

"I like blue. And green. And…I think I'm starting to like red a lot, too."

He smiles ever so slightly, his pale cheeks turning a light pink, and you smirk.

"My favourite's red. But I gotta say, blue's pretty sweet."

His cheeks flush, and he covers his face with his hands and bursts into hushed giggles. You can't help but let a smile slip for the shortest moment. When he looks up again, you offer another kind smirk.

"C'mon, tell me about yourself" you say, shuffling backwards and leaning against the wall. He only does the same when you offer he do so "I'm curious."

He shrugs his shoulders. "There isn't much to tell. I didn't have much time to develop an interesting character…"

He offers you another small smile, this one forced.

"Then how about I tell you about me?"

He nods. "Okay."

"Okie-doke. My full name is David Elizabeth Strider – parents never gave me a middle name, so my eldest bro thought it'd be hilarious to make it 'Elizabeth'. I moved into this building with my brother Dirk when I was thirteen under the supervision of my bro's friend Doc Scratch, who is also the landlord. He gives us a pretty big discount on the rent. My stepsisters, Rose and Roxy that you met earlier, live in a flat about a mile away. They spend a lot of time hanging with us here, along with me and Dirk's friends. Talking about them, they'll probably be here in a bit…Anyway, uh, my favourite food is pizza and I really, _really _love apple juice."

Your ranting makes little sense, but John seems content with simply the vague noise of your voice and the enthusiasm dominating your tone.

Yeah…

This is nice.

_**A/N: I'm sorry this took so long to finish, I've been feeling very, very ill lately. And I've also been distracted with Supernatural and all the new books I bought but shhhhh…**_

_**Please review, dears! UvU**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: Hot damn, I'm sorry for taking so long with this! My laptop's broken completely now, and thanks to my drunk auntie I lost my fanfiction USB that this was saved on for a while. I also have to "take turns" with my mum's laptop with my sister, so yeah. I'm really sorry, updates will hopefully be a bit more frequent now, and they definitely will be when I get my laptop fixed/get a new one.**_

_**Anyway! Wow…this is way more popular than I thought it would be, dang son. Thank you to all my dear, sweet readers! Some find it irritating that I thank you in every chapter. I say that I'll stop when you people stop being great.**_

_**Which is never, by the way.**_

_**Since last chapter was mostly DaveJohn, you get DirkJake now! Enjoy!**_

==Be the asshole finally emerging from his eternal shower

Okay, one – two hours is hardly eternal, and two – you are now the asshole finally emerging from his "eternal" shower.

You are currently stood in your bedroom in nothing but boxers, trying to find some clean clothes that don't make you look like Ms. Frizzle threw up on you. Your endeavour has so far been an absolute failure. While living alone with your brother, as teenagers, has a lot of bonuses (such as being able to sit on your computer watching Netflix for sixteen hours straight without any disturbances except a possible text message of 'yo man you still alive') it also has a lot of downsides, such as the fact neither of you ever do the fucking laundry. That being said, you don't think you've actually been out and bought clothes since you first moved here and your mum forcefully took you out and bought them for you. You've never got round to it since, but now you've got the perfect excuse to go out and spend all the money you've collected in your chores for your neighbours and part-time jobs. You're currently working at a small Co-Op store, so you get a fair amount of money coming in, and Bro sends you copious amounts every month 'cause he knows you're not the best at keeping jobs. Or spending money wisely, you add on with a sweeping glance at your bookshelf full of manga and figurines that you can't even remember the titles and names of.

During your absent monologue, you managed to unearth an old wife beater with a peeling design of a hat on it, and some pretty ratty, faded black trousers. You decide they're better than nothing and get dressed quickly, running a comb through your hair in an attempt to make yourself at least mildly presentable and making your way downstairs to find someone to interact with. Surprisingly, you pass John on the stairs and offer him a smile (you've decided to abandon the "Rules of the Strider" or whatever the fuck Bro called it, for now at least), which he quickly returns before passing you and rushing off to Dave's bedroom door, freezing nervously in front of it. You call for him and give him a thumbs-up and reassuring nod before rushing off yourself. You hear the door opening and an unfamiliarly sweet tone of Dave's voice drift down the stairway after you.

Moving quickly through the quiet house, you eventually decide that Jake must be in the lounge. Unsurprisingly, Jake is sat on the futon humming to himself absently. You greet him softly before sitting down next to him, but leaving a considerable amount of space between you. He smiles, and you quite suddenly notice he has dimples.

You don't have a clue why this discovery almost jolted you.

The silence that falls immediately after that it unpleasant, but you don't know how to break it. Will you make him uncomfortable by talking to him? What would you even talk about? You can't ask him any more about his life before the streets, not yet at least, so what else is there? Ask him what he likes? Would it even be possible for him to like stuff? Was he allowed to watch TV, listen to music? God, you kinda underestimated what kind of life he and John were living.

It takes the deepest breath you can manage (while still being quiet) to calm yourself, and you'd just about worked up the courage to address him…when you hear the front door bounce off the wall and footsteps fill the hall once again. God fucking dammit your friends have got to start knocking. It isn't Jane and the others again – Rose, Jade and Jane have work, Roxy's going to the pictures with Nepeta, and Kanaya's busy working on dresses she's been commissioned to make. That means it can only be…

"Doorbell!" Meenah's loud voice, thick with an accent you still can't place fills the room exactly as she swings the lounge door open and enters, hand-in-hand with a giggling Aranea, "Enter the lesbians!"

Aranea's wearing a pretty cobalt dress, with her short blonde hair curled nicely, and Meenah's wearing distressed leather trousers and an oversized tank top, snapback with "BITCHES AIN'T SHIT" written on it in pink rhinestones ever present on her head, her overly long hair that she refuses to cut yanked messily into two plaits. Apparently Aranea didn't do her hair for her today.

"Yooooooooo!" Latula tunes in, pushing past Meenah to get inside, with Mituna right behind her. She's in a teal skater dress, with red leggings underneath and mustard-yellow knee-high Converse on. Mituna's dressed hurriedly in a red tee-shirt and faded jeans, ratty old combat boots on his feet. Damara stays stood at the doorway, arms crosses with a cigarette hanging from her dark red lips and scowl-ish smirk present on her face. She's dressed in a dark red tank-top, clearly exposing her torso, and a very short pleated black skirt hanging loosely on her hips, hanging onto the several studded belts that she had most likely thrown on as an afterthought for dear life, and bright red heels so high you're surprised she can walk without stumbling on her feet.

"Dirk" she greets, her accent thick and her lack of skill with the English language prominent, "Very nice see you. Happy."

"Hey, Damara. Latula, Mituna, Meenah, Aranea" you greet them flatly, pointing at them as you list them off as a weak attempt to introduce them, seeing Jake spin around looking alarmed out of the corner of your eye. "Oh, this is Jake" you add as an afterthought, waving an arm to him. You stand up, and Jake kneels up to look over the back of the futon. He inspects your…odd friends with what could be fear, and very suddenly jolts and freezes when his gaze falls on Damara. He starts trembling very slightly, and you get worried. Is he scared of her? You suppose she is quite threatening, but no more than the rest of them, including you, but then their eyes meet and Damara freezes too, smirk falling from her face like a dropped brick.

"Uh…You alright, Damz?" Latula asks, turning around to look at the girl who was still frozen in place and approaching her slowly. She rests a hand on Damara's shoulder, and for once she doesn't slap it away.

Damara whispers something inaudible, and everyone asks her to repeat herself in unison.

She says it again, louder, and you can just about make it out as "Jake". And then she starts saying it again, and again and again and again, getting louder every time until she's almost screaming.

"Jake, Jake, _Jake_!"

And all of a sudden she's hugging him, tears filling her eyes, and talking so fast that she's forgetting to speak in coherent English. You're pretty sure she's reverted back to Japanese; she's so wrapped up in her emotions that she seems to forget that the friends she's so desperate to be cool in the presence of are still stood watching her.

A quick look around the room shows that everyone except Jake and Damara is just as confused as you.

"Little baby, Damara's little baby, Damara's little _alive _baby! Alive, alive, alive!" she mutters desperately in between whatever else she's trying to say.

Uh, okay, _what_? 'Damara's little alive baby'? How does she know…?

"You were dead" she whispers, and she's almost sobbing now, "He said you dead. I think he kill you, so angry, so angry. I look, I look so hard but I not find you! I so sad, but now you here! You here, you _here_!"

As if all of that isn't shocking enough, Jake _hugs her back and pulls her closer_ as if he's missed her for a long time. You're not dumb, you can put two and two together, and by doing so you quickly decide that Damara must have had something to do with the man who was abusing Jake and John before. But what did she have to do with him? Is she Jake's sister? She could be, you guess, they share the trait of dark hair, and Jake looks as if he could be at least part Japanese.

Damara has got some serious explaining to do. Why has she never mentioned Jake and John before? It seems she definitely knew they were being abused and was pretty close to their abuser, surely that's something you fucking _tell _someone about?

It takes almost a full ten minutes until Damara calms down a bit and pulls away from the tight grip she has on Jake. They both struggle to their feet, straight into the questions everyone immediately throws at them.

"Oh my god, calm!" Damara yells, using the hand that wasn't still clutching Jake's to signify 'tone it down' and sending a glare to the overexcited group. Everyone shuts up immediately.

"Well?" you ask, sending what could be considered a glare to both of them. Jake shrinks back as if he's done something wrong, but Damara stretches to her full height as if rising to your challenge. She's one of the oldest in your friend group at twenty-four, and she's only a couple inches or so shorter than you, but about the same height in killers like she's wearing now.

She never breaks eye contact with you, even when she clicks her fingers for the others to stop talking again and addresses them to listen.

"Settle, kids, settle. Mama going to tell you story."

Everyone is suddenly silent and listening attentively, but Damara seems distracted. She turns to Jake very suddenly and starts desperately asking where John is, if he's here too. He nods and she seems excited, begging him to bring John down here. Jake obliges, rushing off upstairs and returning quickly with John in tow and a confused Dave tagging along a few steps behind them. John looks as shocked as Jake when he sees Damara, and she seems even happier than before. She hugs him tightly and grabs his hand like she did Jake, and then beckons Jake over to hold his hand too.

Dave is still stood at the door looking confused as hell, "Can I please get the tiniest explanation as to what the _hell _is going on here?"

"Well, shut up and you might!" Meenah snaps, still staring desperately at Damara, and Dave shuts his trap. For the first time in years all of your loud, boisterous friends are quiet and cooperative.

"Everyone know that I live with adoptive dad until few year ago, yes? I run away five year ago and say 'never speak of him to me!' Dad had other kid when he adopt me – Jake, and he not nice at all to him. Dad hit and yell and be so mean to Jake! He never hit me, because he know I fight back. I never try stop dad, because that just make him angrier, but I did best to look after Jake and make sure he not get hurt too bad. A few year after I start living there, dad adopt other kid – John. I hope having him there mean dad be less mean at least, but no. He mean to John too! Especially when he try help Jake. I got too angry with dad, and I run away and leave Jake and John behind. I realize mistake and go back, but they not there anymore. Dad say you run away, and that..." Damara trailed off, suddenly looking nervous as she looks from Jake to John, "...th-that he was going to find you. He said he would find you, a-and kill you."

Looks of pure terror spread on Jake and John's colourless faces, and Damara squeezes their hands in an absent attempt to comfort them.

"He go out and look every day, he never stop. He so desperate to find you, he get so angry and I get scared and move all the way over here to get away. I...think he still looking, I not see why he would stop. It been very long time, I think he know where I am...and I think he know that if he find me, he find you."

If Jake and John didn't look horrified before, they sure do now. Jake stumbles a little, eyes wide, "Oh god...oh dear god, he's gonna find us, he's gonna...he-he..."

Damara looks apologetic and wraps an arm around his shoulders, while John collapses weakly to his knees beside them, looking just about ready to either throw up or pass out. Dave, who looks pretty pale himself, rushes to John's side and puts a nervous hand on his shoulder.

Aranea steps forward, waving a nervous hand in the air to catch everyone's attention, "Um, Jake and...uh, John? I'm sorry, I really haven't a clue what you're going through, but I wish you the best. I'm sure things will turn out alright! You've got the Striders, and all of us, on your side! I wish we could stay and help out, but we've all got family to deal with and jobs to go to..." she trails off briefly, wrapping a strand of hair around her finger before suddenly turning to you, "Dirk! Promise you'll call if you ever need anything?"

Latula and Mituna nod their enthusiastic agreement, and Damara and Meenah agree slightly less passionately. You give them a half-smile and promise, and they all start filing out. Damara gives Jake one last squeeze and pushes Dave out of the way to give John a hug and kiss on the cheek, then leaves herself, plunging the apartment, once again, into a suddenly unfamiliar silence, save for Jake's incoherent muttering and John's weak sniffles.

And all of a sudden, you realize.

For the first time in your life...you're scared.

_**A/N: Why the hell did this take so long oh my gooooooood. Thanks for being so patient with me, guys! The plot is developing!**_

_**Oh, and also, you remember my other fanfic? A Beautiful Red? I'm rewriting it! I really don't like how it was turning out, so I'm writing it all over again and making it a lot better, so look out for that!**_

_**Thanks for reading, and pleasepleaseplease review! 0u0**_


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